Leo Galante
'Leone "Leo" Galante '(1887-13 August 1974) was an Italian-American mobster who was Consigliere of the Vinci Crime Family from 1908 until his death in 1974. Biography Galante was born in 1887 in Sicily. In 1908, Galante and his long time friend, Frank Vinci arrived in America and within a short period of time, established a small crime family. In the early 1920's the two took control of the dockyards in New York, controlling cargo and also exporting illegal substances. Galante had a passion for sports betting such as horse races and boxing. For 20 years, Galante would run New York's biggest book making operations. In 1933 he conspired with Carlo Falcone to kill Tomaso Moretti which brought an end to the Vinci-Moretti War and the Moretti Crime Family. Arrest In 1943, Galante was arrested on charges of book making and fixing boxing matches and was later sent to Rikers Island. During his time in prison, Galante spent his time setting up boxing matches with the various inmates, one of these inmates was former Clemente Crime Family soldier, Vito Scaletta who had been arrested for distributing illegal gas stamps in February of 1945. Through their time in prison together the two would become close friends with Vito frequently staying in Leo's cell and Galante telling Scaletta how the mafia functioned. In the late 1940's, Galante managed to get the parole board to take 4 years off of Scaletta's sentence after he got out in 1948. Post Prison After being released from Rikers Island, Galante continued to be Consigiere of the Vinci family and helped get Scaletta and his best friend, Joe Barbaro made members of the Falcone/Moretti Crime Family in 1951. Exile from New York In July of 1951, tensions between the Falcone and Vinci families were rising and it was rumored that the Vinci family was planning a hit on the Falcone's due to Frank Vinci discovering that Falcone had entered the drug trade. Falcone decided to send Henry Tomasino, a new member of the family to kill Leo and weaken the family. Due to the fact he knew Leo so well, when Scaletta heard about the planned hit on Leo, he drove to Leo's house to warn him about Henry coming. Scaletta was able to evade Henry and drive Leo safely to Grand Central Station where, Galante left to the southern United States for several months. Return to New York In September of 1951, Galante returned in hopes of settling the dispute between the New York Triads and the Falcone family caused by the Triads killing Henry Tomasino, who was later found out to be a federal informant. It was decided that killing Carlo Falcone was the only thing to end the bloodshed. Galante sent Vito Scaletta to the Zavesky Observatory on the outskirts of New York where he engaged in a large scale shootout with Falcone's men. After awhile he entered the building where Scaletta, together with the help of Barbaro who had decided to change sides at the last moment, were able to shoot and kill Falcone, ending the war and the Falcone family as a whole. Following the death of Falcone, Leo sent Scaletta down to New Orleans where he would become a member of the Marcano Crime Family. Galane would remain in New York and with the Vinci family until the end of his life. In 1967 when Frank Vinci passed away, Galante was offered the position of boss but he declined stating that he was too old for the position. New Orleans Galante would make a short trip to New Orleans in 1968 after Sal Marcano and his crime family had been taken down by former U.S soldier, Lincoln Clay. The two made a business deal ensuring Clay's protection and ensuring Galante got paid. Death Leo Galante died of heart failure on August 13, 1974 in his sleep at his New York mansion at the age of 86 or 87. Throughout his life he had become one of the most respected and feared mobsters of all time, having helped build up the most successful mafia family in New York's history up until that point. Galante is still highly respected by the mafia community in New York today. Category:Italians Category:Italian-Americans Category:Americans Category:Deceased Category:Vinci Crime Family Category:Mobsters Category:Catholics